As soon as the two leather boots stepped on the wooden floor by the entrance of the saloon, the crowd looked up at the young teenage cowboy who was standing in the doorway. Some of the people had already heard of the new Deputy which was appointed by Edward Schieffelin to help out with maintaining order in the young city. This was, after all, Tombstone, Arizona. The date was July 21, 1880.
The young Deputy was about 6’3” tall; he had short, spiked brown hair and ice blue eyes. He wore a plain yellow button shirt with a simple design consisting of thin black squares. He had black jeans, brown boots, and a brown cowboy hat. As he stepped into the lounge area of the Oriental Saloon, he noticed how the majority of people looked at him with great surprise. He was an unknown, nobody knew his name, and people had never spoken to him before. But he had a job to do, and nobody was going to stop him from doing it.
The big blue eyes scanned the saloon, looking for a specific person. Everyone felt a warm tingling feeling inside of them, while the eyes of the Deputy focused on them. Little did they understand that the young Deputy had probed each of their minds, hoping to find one person among the many who were there that afternoon. The chatter died down once the Deputy carefully walked further into the room, heading towards the bar, which was in the back of the saloon. People curiously looked him in the eye, wondering who this new Deputy was, and how he would handle the steady migration of outlaws into the young silver mining town of Tombstone.
It had been only three years since Ed Schieffelin was roaming around the desert, when he came across a soldier. The soldier asked Ed what he was doing, to which Ed replied that he was looking for rocks. The soldier warned him about the dangerous and often bloody raids which were held by small pockets of Apache Indians, who showed no mercy towards the pale face riders. The soldier had warned Ed that “You keep fooling around out there amongst them Apaches and the only rock you’ll find will be your tombstone!” Ed continued his search anyway and discovered a ledge of silver ore near a wash. Ed immediately headed back to Tucson, and the town of Tombstone, Arizona was born.
The Deputy had located his target. A large, heavy set man of about 300 pounds in weight, he was sitting on a bar stool at the very end of the bar. The Deputy slowly made his way over to the man, while maintaining a serious look on his face.
“Are you Douglas Avery?” the Deputy asked the man, who was facing the bartender when he heard the question coming from behind him. The large, stocky man slowly turned around on the bar stool to face the young Deputy.
“Yeah… So? And who might you be?” the slightly bearded man asked. He still had a cigar in his mouth and a glass of whiskey in his right hand. The man wasn’t very impressed by the figure that was standing before him, and he was curious to know who the young man was.
“My name is Peter Karlowski. I was assigned by Ed Schieffelin to help deter the migration of outlaws that was taking place while thousands of settlers moved in here in order to establish a residence in the new silver mining town. Mr. Schieffelin has asked me to lend a hand and to bring those to justice who are suspected of having committed certain crimes in the new town. You’re presence is required in the Sheriff’s office concerning a stagecoach robbery which took place just two days ago, about a mile from Allen Road” the Deputy explained calmly.
“Oh yeah?” Douglas sneered, as he slowly got off the bar stool. He stood straight and tall, towering over Peter by several inches. He looked imposing and intimidating, although Peter maintained the same serious look on his face.
“Please come with me, Mister Avery” Peter asked him politely. Douglas examined him from head to toe, and was surprised to see that the young Deputy was not even carrying his gun with him.
“And what if I don’t want to come with you?” Douglas sneered, placing his hands on his sides. He was bigger, taller, and heavier than this arrogant little Deputy kid, and he was not going to be ordered around by some young kid without putting up a fight.
“Then I will have to resort to other means in order to make you come with me” Peter replied fearlessly, while looking right through the large man, who was in clear defiance of his order. Peter began to realize that this would not be as easy as he had hoped.
“You will make me come with you? Why, you’re not even armed!” Douglas responded sarcastically, drawing attention to the fact that Peter wasn’t carrying a gun, or any other weapon for that matter! Peter just grinned as he stared at the larger man, who was clearly challenging him before several dozen people in the saloon. People had overheard Peter saying that he was the new Deputy, and this was meant to be his first test while on the job. Peter had to think clearly and keep his cool, for he realized that every eye was watching him from that moment on. His reputation was at stake, and he had to act swiftly in order to save face and to get the job done swiftly and without spilling any blood.
“Oh believe me, I’m armed alright. I’m armed with something so powerful, you can’t even see it!” he replied calmly. Every ear in the Oriental Saloon picked up on the conversation. And there were plenty of other outlaws there. Everybody wanted to see how this young Deputy was going to get this large man to come with him, without even holding a gun in his hand.
Douglas continued to stare at him in disbelief. For a few moments, there was an incredible silence in the Oriental Saloon. You could hear a pin drop, no matter where in the saloon you were sitting. Some of the onlookers began to shake their head. What a foolish kid, and so young, too. They knew Douglas’ reputation and for them, the young Deputy was as good as a walking dead man.
Finally, Douglas spit his cigar out of his mouth and allowed it to drop on the ground, just in front of Peter’s boots. He extended his big, hairy left hand and grabbed the Deputy by his shirt’s collar, drawing him closer. With his right hand he pulled his gun out of the holder and held it close to Peter’s neck. Peter gulped for a moment, for it had become harder to breathe, with his collar so tight around his neck.
“A good gun is all I need, Deputy Peter. Now, what were you saying?” Douglas sneered, clearly feeling that he had the big advantage in every way. He was bigger, he was taller, he was stronger, and he was armed. What was this foolish kid thinking? But somehow, Peter showed a grin on his face and stared back at Douglas with extreme confidence.
“Drop the gun, Douglas” Peter said calmly. Douglas almost couldn’t believe this guy. He wasn’t even armed and he was facing his gun’s barrel between the eyes and he still dared to order him to drop his gun? Douglas began to laugh at the Deputy’s stupidity.
“Let’s settle this right now…” Douglas said calmly, as he held the gun closer to Peter’s face.
“You will drop the gun in five seconds” Peter replied confidently. Douglas’s patience began to run out.
“I will shoot you in five seconds” Douglas returned sarcastically.
“You’ll be sorry!” Peter replied, with a wider grin on his face.
“You’ll be dead!” Douglas answered, moving the finger against the gun’s trigger.
Suddenly, Douglas began to feel that something was wrong with the gun. It began to feel kind of warm, in his hand. The temperature of the gun kept on increasing, and just two seconds later the gun’s handle began to burn through the palm of Douglas’ hand. He turned his head slightly, as the gun’s handle began to burn through his hand, causing him to scream in pain!
“YEEEEOOAAAUUUWWW” Douglas screamed, dropping the smoldering gun on the floor, while pushing Peter away from him. The skin on his right hand was burnt! When he looked down, he noticed the gun on the wooden floor, as it was melting away!
“My gun! What have you done to my gun?” Douglas shouted, while he and Peter were looking down at the gun, which had now transformed into a melted glob of metal on the wooden floor. Peter just grinned at him, while the rest of the onlookers where completely astonished at the weird events which were taking place at the bar in front of them.
“How did you do that? Who are you?” Douglas asked him, this time becoming a little more scared of the young Deputy, as he glanced back down again and noticed what was left of his trusty weapon, which had now been reduced to a metal stain on the wooden floor. Douglas took two steps back as Peter walked a little closer to him. He understood that the tables had been turned.
Peter could tell that the big outlaw was scared of him, and he realized that he was about to run out of the saloon. But Peter could not allow him to get away that easily.
“Freeze, Douglas!” Peter shouted at him, and immediately Douglas’ body was completely frozen in time. The crowd gasped when they saw this, for they had never witnessed anything like it before. Peter calmly walked up to the large, 6’7” tall, 300 pound man, and grabbed his shirt’s collar with only his right hand.
“Unfreeze, Douglas…” Peter said quietly, allowing his power to free the outlaw from his suspended state. The large man gasped, when he realized that the young Deputy was holding on to him. Then, in an amazing feat of physical strength, Peter lifted the man up in the air with only one hand, leaving his feet dangling six inches from the wooden floor, as Peter looked him straight in the eye as he was holding him just slightly above his own head.
“I’ve had enough of playing games. You will obey me and you will follow me quietly to the Sheriff’s office, is that understood?” Peter asked him sternly. Then Peter lowered him back to his feet and let go of his collar.
“You outlaws are all the same” he said out loud, for all the others to hear. “Take away the gun, and you’re nothing but a coward!”
Then Peter slowly turned around and walked towards the entrance. When he reached the door, he turned around and looked Douglas straight in the eyes.
“Come on, Douglas. I’m waiting for you. I want you to follow me!” he said calmly. Douglas couldn’t resist. An invisible power made him obey the Deputy, and he followed Peter, while just staring in front of him like he was in a trance. Peter had taken him into custody for questioning, and without firing a single shot.
Everyone that stayed behind in the saloon was amazed. Even after Peter and Douglas had walked out, there was a short moment of silence. Only one of Douglas’ colleagues, Eugene Evans, was able to say something.
“Wow… I have never seen a Deputy like this before. I’m not messing with him!” he said out loud. There was a sudden outburst of chatter in the room, as the onlookers tried to come up with an explanation for this weird event which had just taken place. The only evidence that was left from all this, was the metal stain on the wooden floor, which used to represent Douglas’ gun. Eugene walked over and looked at the stain after he squatted down to examine it further. Another friend of Douglas, James Lloyd, joined him.
“The Deputy never even touched Doug’s gun, so how do you explain this?” James said, while pointing to the metal on the floor.
“There is something really weird about this new Deputy and I want to find out what it is…” Eugene replied.
Both James and Eugene walked towards the entrance and saw how Douglas was carefully walking behind Peter, without being bound or handcuffed. Not only that, but Peter was unarmed as well. What made it even stranger was the fact that Douglas didn’t even try to escape, either!
“Did you see the look in Doug’s eyes? He almost seemed to be in some kind of a trance…” James said to his partner, Eugene.
“If we can’t figure this out,” Eugene responded, “Then we will do everything necessary to kill the Deputy!”
Both men chuckled. It didn’t matter what Peter had done to Douglas. But they were determined not to allow the new Deputy to use the same trick on them!
Sheriff Lawson had just interrogated Doug in his office. Doug had indeed been present, but he was not the main man involved. The sheriff continued to question him, while Peter sat quietly in a chair next to him. When he was done, he told Doug that he could leave and that the case would be investigated further.
After Douglas had left the office, Larry Lawson turned towards his new, young Deputy.
“Wow, you are one very brave young man, you know that? Everybody is scared of the guy!” Larry said with a smile. Peter just chuckled, turning a little red of embarrassment.
“Tell me again, Peter. How did you end up here?” the Sheriff asked his young apprentice.
“I had just arrived in Tucson last week when I met Ed Schieffelin near the Post Office. He was looking for a few men to help him out to establish law and order in this brand new community, which had just sprung up as a result of the finding of the silver ore. So, here I am! I’ll only be here for a few weeks though…” Peter replied, smiling back at him.
“But, did Ed know you from somewhere?” Larry asked him, still in disbelief.
“No, I just met him. But, I guess I convinced him to trust me…” Peter replied, not wanting to mention his psychic powers to him. This way, he was still telling the truth, although he couldn’t tell Larry how he convinced Ed to hire him.
“For you to walk in here with Doug, is pretty amazing. And you did it without having your gun with you! That’s unbelievable! So, where is Doug’s gun?” Larry asked him.
“It’s still at the Oriental Saloon!” Peter answered.
“Go get his gun and bring it back here to me!” the Sheriff ordered Peter. Peter thought about it for a moment, and then remembered how he melted Doug’s gun while he was holding it in his hand.
“Well… Sheriff… I melted it…” Peter said, knowing he would have to explain how he did it. But luckily the Sheriff didn’t say anything. He would find out on his own how Peter arrested Doug without firing a shot.
“Alright, Deputy. Meet me back there in about ten minutes. Go get yourself a drink at the Saloon. Congratulations on a good job, Peter!” the Sheriff replied. Peter then turned around and left and he crossed the street and taking the stroll back to the Oriental Saloon.